Bloody poops/prolapse

[heidi55529]

I'm posting for a friend since she doesn't have access to the internet. I'd just got off the phone with her, and she was asking me for advice because she just got back from the vet's office. Her hedgie was treated for mites about a month ago with ivermectin and she also had bloody stool. They ran a fecal smear and nothing showed up, but she was put on TMS for a week and that seemed to clear it up. Up until about two days ago when she bloody poops came back, and then last night when she prolapsed. This time, she found a more knowledgble vet and brought her in. Her hedgie was put under with isoflorane anesthesia because she wouldn't stay still for the vet to get a closer look. She did prolapse and it has been fixed, she also did an xray while she was under to make sure there wasn't any other cause and nothing showed up on that. She was cleaned up, and given a baytril and vitamin injection. She was also given panacur, flagyl, and probios to give to her hedgie everyday for a week. And on the car ride home, she threw up liquid/foam and the vet suggested to take away food and water for a few hours and to keep a close eye on her.

The vet thinks that the bloody stool and prolapsed could be from her diet being to rich. Since her hedgie is a little on the plump side, but not overweight. She's on a mix of CSFTCLS slim, Royal Canin Slim38, and Wellness super5light. She suggested switching one of the foods out to Felidae because it had the lowest fat content out of all the cat foods available.

Sorry for the long post, but after getting off the phone with a frantic friend. I promised that I'll help ask around for any suggestions or help that anyone might have.

[paris26]

Poor hedgie! I'm not sure why your friends vet suggested switching one of the foods in her current mix to Felidae. Felidae is the highest in fat content at 20%. Chicken Soup light is ideal at 10% fat with the other two falling between 12-15%. I use all of those foods along with two others and Felidae is used in moderation because of the high fat content.
I would think maybe adding a bland food like Science Diet I/D (from the vet- either dry of canned) or maybe boiled chicken to her food would help ease her sore tummy and bum. Her appetite may be off because of the medications she's on too. I find that it helps hiding it in chicken baby food. I also wonder why the vet put her on both panacur and flagyl seeing how one is a de-wormer and the other is an anti-diarrhea medicine. Ask your friend if the flagyl is flavored- that helps hide the awful taste and makes it more palatable.

Wish your friend good luck and keep us updated!

[heidi55529]

I just called to check how the hedgie was doing. Her bottom looks a lot better now that it's all cleaned up. And she's been running on her wheel ever since she got home, so I take that as a good sign that she's active.

And oops, it's the Felidae platinum, where the fat content is 14.5% If the food is a problem, does anyone have any suggestions for her? She thought she was feeding a good mix of food, but is now worried that it's too much things mixed in.

I think she mentioned those meds were prescribed, because since they don't really know what is causing the bloody stool or prolapse. She wanted to address several issues that are common in hedgies that could or could not be the cause. I asked if the Flagyl was flavored and it's not, so I gave her your suggestions on mixing it in with the baby food to get her to eat it.

Thanks so much!

[paris26]

I think the mix that she uses is fine (it's what I use and I've had no problems!) I forgot to mention adding more fiber to her diet- I use Grape-Nuts and I sprinkle a teaspoon on top of the kibble.
The Felidae Platinum makes more since, I think it's formulated for senior cats.

[heidi55529]

If she were to switch in Felidae Platinum, out of the three in your opinion which would you take out? CSFCLS, Royal Canin, or Wellness? I'll suggest to her adding fiber, can you give the grape nuts to her everyday, or just a few times a week?

[paris26]

That's a tough question! I would keep all three and add the Felidae to it. :) I know with my own mix, I'm going to be weeding out the Wellness because only one of my seven hogs will eat it. I think it is a great product and I love the ingredients but my kids eat everything else usually. Oh well.. my cat won't mind! If her hog eats, it keep it, if she seems to ignore it, I would ditch it.
I sprinkle on grape nuts every other day but you could feed it daily. It's hard to find a cat food that is high in fiber without it being a low quality brand.

[heidi55529]

Thanks Tawana for answering all my questions!! I'm usually on the chinnie side of this forum and just browse the hedgie section to look at pictures. =D My friend Melanie says thank you also!

I asked her about her hedgie's eating habits, and she usually cleans out her bowl and isn't really picky and eats everything. Her vet did give her a small sample bag of the Felidae Platinum, so she's going to give her one or two pieces to see if she'll eat it. If so, she may ad it to the mix also. Having four different cat foods mixed together isn't too much right?

And she will try the grape nuts, hopefully that little extra fiber would help her stomach out some.

[hemi_mygirl]

Thanks Tawana for answering all my questions!! I'm usually on the chinnie side of this forum and just browse the hedgie section to look at pictures. =D My friend Melanie says thank you also!

I asked her about her hedgie's eating habits, and she usually cleans out her bowl and isn't really picky and eats everything. Her vet did give her a small sample bag of the Felidae Platinum, so she's going to give her one or two pieces to see if she'll eat it. If so, she may ad it to the mix also. Having four different cat foods mixed together isn't too much right?

And she will try the grape nuts, hopefully that little extra fiber would help her stomach out some.

I think the more variety a hedgie has in the mix, the less likely they are to get bored and not eat it. As well, various foods will make sure all the nutrition bases are covered. Right now, I have my girl on a mixture of three, but am working to switch her off the yucky pretty pets stuff. I know a couple users on here feed ups of 4 or 5 different foods.

[heidi55529]

That's a good point. Another thing was, I know most people only have one or two hedgies and the smallest bag of cat food comes in 5lb bags. If you're mixing 3-4 cat foods together, you can easily get up to 20lbs in the mix. What do you do with all the extra food to keep it from going stale. Or actually, I should ask, how long can you keep it before it loses all it's nutrition. I know for chinnie pellets, it's only a few months at most.

[paris26]

Not a problem Heidi!
I use 6 in my hedgie mix: Chicken Soup Light, Innova Light, Royal Canin Slim 38, Solid Gold, Wellness and Felidae. I'm guessing she'll eat the Felidae right away, my kids love it!
With all the foods coming in different sizes, I have quite a bit because I like to try and have equal amounts of all the foods. I end up buying 4 bags of Chicken Soup, 3 of Innova, 2 Royal Canin, 1 Solid Gold, Wellness and Felidae. I mix up the food and freeze it. I thaw it out overnight on a towel to absorb extra moisture and then feed.